Mama (1990)
1h 29m
Running Time
May 1, 1990Release Date
Plot.
Often cited as China’s first independent feature film, this low-budget drama, filmed largely in the director’s Beijing apartment, depicts the life of a single mother (a topic considered taboo at the time) caring for her mentally challenged son. Shot with a documentary aesthetic that includes interviews with families of mentally challenged persons, the film helped kick-start the Sixth Generation of filmmakers (including Wang Xiaoshuai and Jia Zhangke) and their ethos of employing documentary realism to depict the true conditions of contemporary China.
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Mama is a 1990 Chinese film directed by Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan's directorial debut, Mama is now considered a seminal film in the history of Chinese independent cinema, and by extension, as a pioneering film of the Sixth Generation of which Zhang is a member. Shot on a very low budget within Zhang Yuan's apartment, Mama follows the story of a mother and her mentally challenged adult son.